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Victory for Same-Sex Marriage: Now, it’s Legal in Mexico City

On the cusp of a new decade, Mexico City lawmakers legalized gay marriage yesterday, making the city the first in Latin America to do so.

“The bill passed the capital's local assembly 39-20 to the cheers of supporters who yelled: ‘Yes, we could! Yes, we could!’” the Associated Press reports.

The bill is designed to change the city’s definition of marriage. The current civil code says it’s the union of a man and a woman; now it’ll be "the free uniting of two people." Under this law, gay couples can “adopt children, apply for bank loans together, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse, rights they were denied under civil unions allowed in the city.”

Just how monumental is this? Well, let’s look at the facts:

Currently, seven countries permit gay marriages: Canada, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. Meanwhile, four U.S. states allow same-sex marriages: Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. New Hampshire will join this group on January 1 when its legislation goes into effect, and the mayor of D.C. recently signed a same-sex marriage bill.

Do you think that Mexico City is paving the way for more places to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010? Are you for or against gay marriage? What do you think of this news?